For anyone not familiar with these little round pancakes, Ebelskivers hail from Denmark. The fluffy, light balls of pancake dough ooze with fillings ranging from savoury to sweet and are the breakfast of choice when the grandgirls sleep over. In a bid to have at least a hint of protein for breakfast, Nana insists that they have a helping or two of cheddar-cheese-and-bacon filled Ebelskivers before embarking on the Nutella-filled versions.
Finely chopped steamed spinach, lemon curd, jam, or a single raspberry or blueberry also make great fillings. The possibilities are endless.
You’ll need a dedicated ebelskiver pan, and skewers to flip the half-baked rounds. At first, I found the flipping process to be a bit messy, but the trick is to keep rotating the round ball until all sides are uniformly golden and crispy. There is no need for syrup, though a dusting of confectioners’ sugar doesn’t go amiss with the sweet fillings.
Try them! I bet you’ll love them as much as we do.
Ebelskivers
Originally from Denmark, these fluffy, light balls of pancake dough can be filled with anything from finely chopped steamed spinach, cheddar cheese, bacon, lemon curd, jam to a solitary raspberry or blueberry. The possibilities are endless. Syrup is not needed, but a dusting of confectioners’ sugar is welcome on the sweeter versions.
- Yield: Makes approximately 50 pancakes 1x
Ingredients
- 280 g or 2 1/3 c unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2/3 tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 560 g or 2 1/3 c buttermilk
- 4 large eggs, separated
- 127 g or 4 oz unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and granulated sugar.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and egg yolks. Whisk the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients until well combined; the batter will be lumpy.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff, but not dry, peaks form (2–3 minutes). Using a silicone or rubber spatula, fold the egg whites into the batter.
- Add ½ tsp melted butter to each well of an ebelskiver pan. Heat the pan over medium heat until the butter begins to foam. Add 1 tbsp of batter and 1 tsp of filling, then top with another 1 tbsp of batter. Cook until the bottoms are crispy and golden (2–3 minutes). Using a skewer, flip the pancake rounds over and cook on the other side until golden and crispy (another 2–3 minutes). Serve immediately.
- Repeat with the remaining batter and filling.
Notes
Ebelskiver pans and skewers are readily available on Amazon.
Where have these yummy gems been all my life? Yum! Half Danish ancestry and love savory brunch goodies but never heard of them nor eaten any. Thanks, Helen. Can now say I have enjoyed them. So perfect for Hubby’s day off brunch to kick off 4 day weekend as it’s turned cooler and is a rainy day. Made them with stoneware Texas muffin pan with double batch of ingredients. Buttered wells. Baked them instead of flipping. So yummy. Will look for the right pan for next time. Want to make again!
★★★★★
What a great variation! I must try that. Sounds like one could bake up a batch and have them done all at once. The downside of the pan is you have to keep hopping up to make more, so the chef rarely gets to sit down to breakfast. 🙂
Dear Helen,
My aebelskiver pan is lost in the mists of time.. When I lived in CA, we used to have parties with these as the centrepiece; don’t know where it went in all the moves. (Luckily I still have the antique carved Japanese rice moulds that are wonderful for making Christmas speculaas.) The trick with aebelskiver is to get a rhythm going, and as you say, the fillings are endless. Oh yummy days…thanks for the memories.
Beatrice, you must have developed quite the knack with these as a party centrepiece! Nothing like sustained practice, is there? I do these a few times a year, so takes me a batch or two to get the rhythm flowing, but it’s getting easier each time. Demand always outstrips supply, and the parents have been known to show up in time for breakfast on Ebelskiver day. 🙂
Eureka! Found pan and wooden Danish turner tools to go with it. Very reasonable online. Will be ready to make these yummy treats like a proper partial Dane.
★★★★★
Yes – I was surprised at how reasonable the pan and wooden implements were. Glad you were able to get your hands on some!